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T O P I C R E V I E W

Robert Pearlman

Canada Post will issue on Jan. 17, 2011, a set of five stamps celebrating Canadian Pride, including one depicting the space shuttle's Canadarm remote manipulator.

From Canada's Stamp Details (Vol. XX No 1; January to March 2011):

Just stop for a moment to consider how many items -- within the country and abroad -- bear our impressive Maple Leaf. The sheer number of places where the Canadian flag is found was the creative impetus to this stamp series -- five stamps that only scratch the surface of how ubiquitous our flag really is.

According to Liz Wong, Stamp Design Manager for the series, the challenge was to take a very common but much beloved image like the flag, an image people are familiar with seeing on a stamp, but approach it in a fresh new way and present the flag in ways in which it's actually used. "Even though you can see the flag in use everyday, whether it's on the sleeve of the young soldier beside you on the bus or even flying over your local post office -- do you really see it -- or is it just there? The Canadian Pride series draws your attention to both the common -- and uncommon -- places the flag appears, which makes you more aware of its presence in your own life, your own landscape."

The five Permanent™ domestic stamps in this year's issue demonstrate both personal and official appearances of the flag; on a traveller's backpack, a hot air balloon, the Canadarm, and both a Canadian soldier's and a search and rescue expert's uniforms.

The stylized "O" (for "O Canada") not only acts as a symbol of our national anthem, it also serves as a means of focusing attention on the flag and its surroundings.

The Canadian Pride stamps measure 20.25 mm x 23.25 mm (vertical) with simulated perforations while the souvenir sheet measures 147 mm x 70 mm and has 13+ perforations and are printed by Canadian Bank Note company on Tullis Russell paper using lithography in four colours. The stamps are self-adhesive. The official first day cover will be cancelled in Ottawa, Ontario. The stamps are available in booklets of 10 stamps and booklets of 30 stamps. A souvenir sheet is also available.

Space Pete

On the stamp, the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) appears to have grappled the SpaceLab Pallet (SLP) - which was used to deliver the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) and the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) "Dextre" to the ISS.

music_space

The Canadian Space Agency public affairs office assures me that the pallet is indeed Canadarm2's own pallet, the one it flew to space in: the SSRMS pallet. They tell me that "Dextre" used a different pallet.

Robert Pearlman

quote:Originally posted by music_space:They tell me that "Dextre" used a different pallet.

They are wrong. Both Dextre and Canadarm2 were launched using Spacelab pallet MD002, which was also the last Spacelab pallet to fly.